Upon his retirement as a non-routine flight operations captain from a fractional operator in 2015, Dr. Veillette had accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight experience in 240 types of aircraft—including balloons, rotorcraft, sea plans, glides, war birds, supersonic jets and large commercial transports. He is an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University. In June 2023, he won the prestigious Bill Gunston Technology Writer of the Year Award.
How best to train pilots to maintain command of an aircraft throughout its entire maneuvering envelope, in all weather conditions, and when subjected to equipment malfunctions? Using simulators is the most logical, and proven, response. But appropriate simulators aren't always available.
Proponents of in-aircraft training point out that limitations in a simulator's motion cueing, combined with the reduced emotional involvement of those in the seats, prevent pilots from experiencing the full range of airplane attitudes, load factors and behavior that can be present during an actual flight.
The inspiration for "mercy missions" traces back to Nov. 19, 1946, when an off-course American C-53—the paratroop version of the DC-3/C-47—with four crewmen and eight military VIPs aboard crashed into the Swiss Alps. All survived, but they were stranded in deep snow on a high glacier with no means of self-extraction.
